There was a few of those tunes around at the time, Len ‘Steal My Sunshine’ being the one I absolutely still love despite it having that gruff voiced bloke/ sweet sounding woman dynamic that I usually hate. Banger.

That Len song also always reminds me of this. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQsQZvsR_QI I thought they must have been in the charts at the same time but there's actually three years between them. It must be the combination of slight quirkiness and male/female vocals.

That Len song also always reminds me of this. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQsQZvsR_QI I thought they must have been in the charts at the same time but there's actually three years between them. It must be the combination of slight quirkiness and male/female vocals.

Andea True was a US porn star who was stranded in Jamacia and recorded More, More, More to fill the time before she could leave.

I knew that was going to be Bran Van 3000 before I clicked it. I love those quirky male sung one hit wonders from across the pond, Washed Out - Feel It All Around Me and Owl City - Fireflies for the bill too.

Escapist '80s disco-pop hit 'Give It Up', by KC and the Sunshine Band... I know it's cheesy, but it's just such a catchy, upbeat ditty. I've even attempted it on guitar (the little funky bits and everything).

That Len song also always reminds me of this. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQsQZvsR_QI I thought they must have been in the charts at the same time but there's actually three years between them. It must be the combination of slight quirkiness and male/female vocals.

If you hadn’t posted that, I’d never have got on to it! It is, isn’t it? Two good songs, although I prefer the Len one. If I remember rightly they had a follow up that sampled Gordon Lightfoot that was also good but sank without trace and they disappeared after that. Shame.

And the Bran Van one was great at the time but it’s one of those who’s ubiquity turned me off. Don’t think they had another hit after that either, did they?

And the Bran Van one was great at the time but it’s one of those who’s ubiquity turned me off. Don’t think they had another hit after that either, did they?

Drinking In LA only became a hit in the UK on it's second attempt - it got to no. 34 in June 1998, and was re-released in August 1999 after being used on a Rolling Rock advert where it went straight in at no. 3. Their only other charting single was Astounded, a collaboration with Curtis Mayfield (which turned out to be his last recording before his death) that got to no. 40 in June 2001, and no. 3 on the Dance charts.

They enjoyed a lot more success on the Continent and in their native Canada. The two main members James Di Savio and E. P. Bergen occasionally get together to record, and Di Savio tours semi-regularly with a rotating cast of singers and musicians.

Len's (who were also Canadian) Steal My Sunshine was released for radio promo in March 1999, over 2 years after Drinking In LA had reached number 35 on the Canadian charts and 3 months after it had been used in the soundtrack of the film Playing By Heart, so I think it's probably fair to say it had a bit of influence on the feel of Len;s track (though apparently it was written as n attempt to create a 'call and answer' track from two sides of a relationship, like Don't You Want Me).

As a side note, the video for Drinking In LA features a Moog Source (as used on Blue Monday) and an E-Mu SP12 sampling drum machine (a development of the Drumulator, which was an offshoot from the Emulator) and two Atari STs, which end up getting smashed at the end.

Was the Len one released in the Uk in March 1999 though? I always associate it with the summertime and working on a school during the holidays when I was in the 2nd year of my apprenticeship, which would make it 2000. Then again, the song might have just been a year old and still on heavy rotation on the local radio stations.

Also, I could have sworn it was a Carling advert that Bran Van was the soundtrack too. Or maybe that was one with California Dreaming playing over it, I think they were around at a similar time. The mind plays tricks.

Also, I could have sworn it was a Carling advert that Bran Van was the soundtrack too. Or maybe that was one with California Dreaming playing over it, I think they were around at a similar time. The mind plays tricks.

If we're talking advert jingles around that era? I loved this but get the impression I shouldn't have. For some deodorant?

Although weren't the two singers of Len brother and sister? Maybe that sort of thing is allowed in Canada.

Yes, Marc and Sharon Costanzo. The voice briefly heard at the start is Brendan Canning, a friend of Marc's and who later formed Broken Social Scene. They went back to Canning's house after attending a rave and Canning put 'More, More, More' on his turntables, which inspired Marc to sample and loop the drums and write the song based on the rave they had just attended. When the song became a hit, Len's record company Columbia sent Canning a cheque for $2500 which he spent on pedals for him and Kevin Drew to record Broken Social Scene's debut album.

Was the Len one released in the Uk in March 1999 though? I always associate it with the summertime and working on a school during the holidays when I was in the 2nd year of my apprenticeship, which would make it 2000. Then again, the song might have just been a year old and still on heavy rotation on the local radio stations.

It was released for sale in Canada in July 1999 (March 1999 was when it was sent out as a radio promo in Canada) and reached no.3. It was released in the UK on the 18th of December 1999, peaked at no.8 on it's first week and left the chart in March 2000.

Also, I could have sworn it was a Carling advert that Bran Van was the soundtrack too. Or maybe that was one with California Dreaming playing over it, I think they were around at a similar time. The mind plays tricks.

It was definitely Rolling Rock, in a campaign by Bartle Bogle Hegarty that started in May 1999 (reference to it basically makes up the entirety of the contemporary Freaky Trigger review of the song). The advert was briefly referenced at the start of their TOTP performance, with the POV shot of drinking from a bottle.

The Carling Premier California Dreaming campaign started in July 1997. Carling previously used the 1987 'E Reg Model' remix of Gary Numan's Cars for a Premier campaign in 1996 (which was then re-released as the 'Premier Mix) that was 'heavily influenced' by the video to REM's Everybody Hurts', Sneakier Pimps' Six Underground for a Premier campaigni n July 1998 and Soulwax's Much Against Everyone's Advice for a Black Label campaign in November 2000.

Brilliant Buzby, thank you! I’m glad to know I was kinda in the right area with some of my memories at least. It doesn’t seem like 20 years ago (more or less).

Bran Van 3000 must have been on the radio at least once an hour every day for about 6 months, more if you clicked through stations. No wonder everybody got completely fucking sick of it. I’m remembering Robbie Williams ‘A Love Supreme’ being on near constant rotation at the time too. And Sixpence None The Richer, I think. I’ll stop now before I go full Gambaccini!

Wasn't Astounded by Bran Van made by using old unused outtakes of Mayfield's Move On Up? I swear I read that at the time. Had no idea he'd contributed anything new to it

It's an absolute banger anyway

The music features samples of Moving On Up and The Doobie Brothers Rocking Down The Highway. By the time the collaboration happened, Mayfield was too ill to sing, so he allowed James Di Salvio to go through his archives and he found an unused vocal session from the 1980s that included a reworking of Move On Up, with extra verses which he used to assemble the vocals for Astounded.